PORTLAND (ME)
WCSH - NBC News Center Maine [Portland ME]
August 20, 2026
By Jane Park
Attorneys representing seven people sexually assaulted by Maine Catholic priests over a span of decades held a news conference Thursday after reaching a settlement.
A childhood sexual abuse survivor and the wife of another survivor gathered in Portland Thursday to share several stories of sexual assault at the hands of Catholic priests across Maine.
Many survivors filed civil lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland after a law in 2021 removed the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse.
Despite the Maine Supreme Court ruling in Dupuis v. the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland last year that the law is unconstitutional, the survivors unaffected by the ruling reached a settlement with the diocese. However, the financial terms and other details are confidential.
Timothy Kenlan and Kristin Murray-James with Berman & Simmons, who are also speaking at Thursday’s news conference, represent seven survivors whom they said were abused by seven different Catholic priests between 1961 and the 2000s in several places, including churches. The attorneys initially filed at least 30 complaints against the Portland diocese.
Keith Amato is the only one of those seven survivors speaking out. His attorneys said he was six years old when a priest at St. Bruno Parish in Van Buren abused him. Amato required surgery from injuries of the abuse and developed years of psychological trauma.
Casey Guidry, wife of survivor Timothy Guidry, is also speaking at the news conference.
This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.